Before I started using GoldDerby, I generally looked to Dave Karger and Scott Feinberg the most for analysis. Haven’t read either of them much in a while, as I’ve had trouble finding Karger’s input after he left EW and there was a long period where Feinberg didn’t post on his blog, but I’m just starting to revisit him again.

These days, I’ve been going to Hitfix a lot, so I’ve been getting a fair share of Kris Tapley. He can come off as a bit abrasive, which gets annoying, but I tend to agree with him more often than not.

Jeff Wells really rubs me the wrong way. I don’t know, he just comes off as hyperbolic and a little irrational. Maybe I’m not giving him enough credit, but that’s just the reaction I’ve had to him so far.

Used to read Sasha Stone all the time, mainly because she was pretty much the first Oscar blog I ever found (and she updated daily, of course), but I’ve become disillusioned with her lately, mainly for the points that were raised about her following the… overreaction she had a week or so ago.

I absolutely despise Pete Hammond. Every film is wonderful! Every nominee was fantastic! She’s terrific! And he’s great! Geez. No one’s just good huh Peter? By September every year he has like 30 films in contention for Picture and 20 actors and actresses slotted for nominations. Just a total hack. Doesn’t know the difference between a great film and a merely good one. A great performance and a merely decent one.

And than of course Roger Friedman. The biggest Weinstein shill of them all. Shamelessly does Harvey’s bidding every year.

I also hate Kris Tapley. Very arrogant and when you try to question his hypocrisy on twitter he blocks people. Thin skinned much? He has it out for certain films and is not upfront about it. He also likes to look cool on twitter by boasting that he’s drunk, which you should probably stop doing after your out of your teens.

I do like Sasha Stone. She’s bat sh*t crazy and doesn’t even know it so she is sort of endearing. She’s passionate and takes sides and is at least is upfront she is biased unlike others.

I love the professionalism of Anne Thompson. Love the insanity of our very own Tom O’Neill whose so fun.

The others really don’t make much of an impression either positive or negative.

I also hate Kris Tapley. Very arrogant and when you try to question his hypocrisy on twitter he blocks people. Thin skinned much? He has it out for certain films and is not upfront about it. He also likes to look cool on twitter by boasting that he’s drunk, which you should probably stop doing after your out of your teens.

As much as I like cutting them up as a species, I do like many. I’ll single out Anne Thompson. I find her full of humour and I dont find that she ever takes herself too seriously. She’s gracious most of the time even towards films she doesnt care for.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s a few who lurk in the depths who I find repulsive. I have to mention Jeff Wells, Imo he is disrespectful and dismissive towards women, which really irks me to no end. Also, I find his public persona anti-condusive tto wanting to be in the same room with him.

The duds are Matt Atchity , Thom Geier , Pete Hammond and generally speaking , THE EDITORS , who seem like a confederacy of fools and nattering Nabobs who like to get together , like a bunch of old women, and then delude and convince themselves into a particular position …with all due respect to Mr Tom O Neil , but after listening to his podcasts and predictions , he CLEARLY lacks judgement !

If there’s an underdog contender that is deserving of more attention, people like Clayton Davis, Scott Feinberg and Anne Thompson at least try to spread the word and give coverage on their websites. So that’s cool; more pundits should do that. But most are just sheep that jump on bandwagons.

The Awesome one I
really really like Anne Thompson, she doesn’t jam her opinion down your
throat. She is respectful of all PoV’s and never comes off condescending
unlike her colleague on the Oscar Talk podcast. Anne reminds me of the
late Roger Ebert. I look forward to reading her thoughts and opinions on the race for years to come.

Love’em and dislike’emClayton
Davis is the man but sometimes he lets his personal feelings/desires
get in the way of doing his regular great work. A prime example is the
2011 oscar race for best actress. It was so obvious to the readers of
the site that he wasnt considering Meryl for the win because he has
something against her. And more recently that bad feeling has been
transferred to Jennifer Lawrence. It’s slightly off-putting but the good
outweighs the bad. Same with Sasha Stone. The Social Network thing was
utterly ridiculous but i think shes brave and says alotta things that
other bloggers are afraid to. Her passion does gets in her way alotta
times but she means well and i see that. She is who she is, and if you
cannot deal with that then don’t read her thoughts, but i will continue.
Jeff Wells is a mixed bag but atleast he is honest and isn’t a sheep.
He needs to show woman much more respect, that is the one thing i REALLY
dont like about him. But even with that said, i still I have alot more
respect for him than most oscar pundits.

The ones I’m not fond ofDavid
Karger is a pundit I have no use for. Currently, he is the biggest
sheep out there. I never have and never will consider his thoughts
important. Kris Tapley use to be alright but over the last year he has
become insufferable. I now solely listen to Oscar Talk because of Anne
Thompson, she is so wonderful that it balances out the constant
irritation i feel when i have to listen to the opinions of Kris. He
thinks that he is more learned than everyone else, it’s quite awful. His
sh*t stinks too but i don’t think he’ll ever release it, If ever there
were a blogger who is condescending it’s him! Oooh you called the Argo
win before most others, big whoop. Dude needs to get over himself.

There is so much bullshit in these Hollywood awards. I appreciate anyone who attempts to cut through the bullshit and tell things for how they are. But even that is hard, because then none of these people would be able to make a living, since their websites are all funded by FYC ads.

Sometimes Jeff has said things that are indefensible. That said, he has a very strong sense of what is a great film and will defend those films. I have agreed with his top films over the last two years: Zero Dark Thirty and Wolf of Wall Street/12 Years a Slave. He also has the balls to go out and write what is on his mind. Example: about disturbances in the movie theater. That is simply unacceptable. No one should talk during a movie, regardless of racial background (and no one should be called a racist who calls out these people). No one should bring their disabled child to a movie if he or she is going to be a disturbance. It is a problem when theater staff are afraid to approach people, when they are too ignorant or selfish to realize that moviegoing is a communal experience. People who don’t honor that are wrong.

Sasha is very passionate. That makes her stand out. Her Oscar podcasts going through past years have been wonderful. Why did certain films not win? What happened to Do the Right Thing? I’ve really enjoyed hearing her perspective. She also brings a lot of attention to lesser seen films, and the traffic on her website is huge. Her blog posts are very long and she is not afraid to defend films or call out the Academy for its lazy voting practices. Sure she can be a little all over the place, but I think both she and Jeff have strong individual voices that are missing from many of these other bloggers. Kudos to them for making a big stink about The Social Network—that film should have won Best Picture, and David Fincher Best Director. And for calling out Viola Davis losing Best Actress. The Academy Award isn’t the be all end all. People in the Academy were upset Viola Davis didn’t win…just because there is a winner doesn’t mean everyone agreed upon it.

I agree on Anne Thompson. She is very professional and knowledgeable. She also comes from a more journalistic background than many of the other bloggers, and she teaches film studies. She doesn’t ruffle many feathers, but she does reveal her opinion and aggravation with the season, and gives perspective of the events she attends. She does an outstanding job analyzing the Oscar categories, discussing which films are most likely to get in—she really does try to see everything (though she kind of blew of Perks of Being a Wallflower). Kris has always been whiny and I can understand why people can’t stand him (he really seems to have it out for David O. Russell), but his podcast with Anne is enjoyable and takes a different, more serious and analytical tone than anything on Gold Derby, as well as Sasha’s podcasts and Jeff’s. Anne and Kris really are in the trenches, at all the industry events (this is important!!!)—most of the Gold Derby editors aren’t except for Tom. Gold Derby has had some strong videos–I appreciate the videos with actors much more than the breakdowns, just because they aren’t coming from people who consistently talk to voters. I think there is a lot of fluff and not as much analysis, especially from those “expert” Oscarologists who aren’t as strong or as keen as the aforementioned bloggers, like Anne and Sasha who are pretty good predictors, and don’t add much to Tom’s discussions. I believe in past years the Emmy breakdowns with editors have been stronger than the Oscar ones.

Meanwhile, other bloggers really aren’t useful at all. Pete Hammond is ridiculous. He is too afraid to piss off anyone—which really runs counter to the reasons Deadline Hollywood was originally established. Every Academy screening is a success, every movie is great. This is a huge problem because it perpetuates mediocrity. There are problems with the Academy and the films they nominate for these reasons. Pete always talks up the buzzed Oscar contenders (even if they are shit), and fails to bring proper spotlight to the smaller, personal Indie films that deserve consideration. Hell, he even called Oprah missing an outrageous snub, and failed to talk about the many pros of the Golden Globe nominations (the Comedy Actress lineup, for instance?). You know, maybe just maybe The Butler shouldn’t be considered for the Oscars because it ya know, isn’t a great film (der). Again, perpetuating mediocrity. Peter Travers does the same through Rolling Stone. Dave Karger isn’t very visible, besides on awards shows. And he wouldn’t be there if he was someone unafraid to speak what’s on his mind (plus the pay is probably better if you are a suck up). I tend to lump Scott Feinberg in this group—he has a voice on his Hollywood Reporter blog and he offers solid analysis and scoops, but they don’t cut through like some of the other bloggers do, and they don’t call anyone out (unless it was that **anonymous** Oscar voter who provided his entire ballot and commentary). See what happens in such a system…to advance and make a better living, you have to conform and SELL OUT.

Jeff Wells may have his issues (the whole situation with Nikki Finke a few years ago was just …. eww.)

HOWEVER, a sheep he is not! So many pundits help promulgate the idea that certain categories are locked. Like Feinberg, Anne Thompson and a few others,he realizes the influence that Oscar bloggers have in helping keep chances alive for underdogs. For that he is to be commended, in my opinion. Most are so obsessed with being accurate with their predictions, they ignore anything that isn’t on Oscar’s radar, and that’s just unfair.